6 Smokey Eye Moves That Are A No No

We all know how easy it is to fall in love with gorgeous smokey eyes. We do it everyday, and why not, it's a beauty staple that is forever-reinventing itself with color, shading, liner, and even shape, but, with so many different techniques, we stand the chance of feeling overwhelmed and leaving out the important steps or overdoing the ones that don't need overdoing:-) If you've lost your smokey eye way, these 6 simple steps will get you back on the road to beautiful eyes in no time.

1. To Prime or Not to Prime

Applying an eyeshadow primer to your eyes is especially important if your lids tend to be on the shiny side. For a smokey eye it will keep your eye makeup looking goregous for hours and hours. Why a primer you ask? They help the eyeshadows go on smoothly without creasing, which is important if you're going for more classic smokey eyes using dark colors. The more your shadow creases, the more unfinished your eye makeup will look.

2. Eyeliner Overload

Too much eyeliner around the eyes can tend to look unpolished. The key to a flawless eyeliner look is to make sure it blends properly for a seamless finish. If you use too much eyeliner you'll look more like a raccoon, and not like the gorgeous creature you are. Once you've applied your liner underneath the eyes (try a water-resistant or gel liner pencil which is water proof) you can use an eyeshadow in the same color if you're going for the classic look, or a contrasting color and blend along the liner. The shadow will also create a barrier to catch any liner that bleeds.

3. Blending Is A Must

When it comes to eye makeup, you can't forget to blend, blend, blend! Without it you won't achieve the results you want and your eyes will look messy and unfinished. The more you blend, the more flawless your eye makeup will look and that's a smokey eye fact.

4. A Rainbow of Colors

When creating your smokey eye look, make sure to choose colors that work together. For instance, a neutral color on the lid like a taupe, soft grey, or even a peach tone depending on your complexion, a slightly darker color in the crease like an ash brown, espresso, gunmetal, or plum for example and a light champagne tone for your browbone work well together. For a darker complexion you would choose a warmer base shade to highlight the browbone. You can also use a lighter shade on the eyelid which is another smokey eye look that looks great too. The key is to know which colors work best for your skin tone and eye color.

5. Shadow After Foundation? Hmmm. Maybe Not

If working during fashion week taught us one thing, it was to save the foundation until after the eyes were done. Especially with only minutes to do a full face. You'll save a lot of time getting ready and avoid the hassle of having to clean up the extra mess. Start with your eyes first, then move onto foundation, concealer, and so on:-) If any eyeshadow does falls on your face you can easily clean it up with a Q-tip, eye makeup remover or eye cream.

6. Getting Lazy

Okay we confess there are plenty of times when we are just so tired and lazy about removing our makeup and are tempted to skip it, but if you go out at night with smokey eye makeup, when you get home you really need to wash your face! All of it before you hit the sheets. Falling into the habit of not removing your makeup fully can make your eyes extremely itchy and even worse, damage your pretty lashes.